Welcome Aboard
by flarey phoenix
Summary: When Rob Lucci notices a familar jolly roger tied to an unfamiliar ship, he decides he must investigate, only to gain a rather interesting proposal... mild hints of LuccixRobin
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to the crew. **

Rob Lucci had noticed the strange ship immediately, moored on the very same island he and his team had docked on not a week beforehand. He'd frowned, not recognising it at first, but of course he'd never even seen the ship's blueprints, much less seen it BUILT for that matter, but after getting a glimpse of the flag wafting gently in the calm breeze, that straw hat on the jolly Roger, he knew for certain… this was the Mugiwara crew's second vessel, he figured that they'd have probably obtained it in Water 7 shortly after they escaped Enies Lobby 2 years ago, he found it strange how well the ship suited the childlike rubbery captain and the crew it carried, for the ship… looked so unlike every other pirate ship he'd seen.

Rob Lucci had noticed the strange ship immediately, moored on the very same island he and his team had docked on not a week beforehand. He'd frowned, not recognising it at first, but of course he'd never even seen the ship's blueprints, much less seen it BUILT for that matter, but after getting a glimpse of the flag wafting gently in the calm breeze, that straw hat on the jolly Roger, he knew for certain… this was the Mugiwara crew's second vessel, he figured that they'd have probably obtained it in Water 7 shortly after they escaped Enies Lobby 2 years ago, he found it strange how well the ship suited the childlike rubbery captain and the crew it carried, for the ship… looked so unlike every other pirate ship he'd seen.

It didn't adorn the usual 'intimidating' type of figurehead; no… instead of a skull, or a dragon, or something equally intimidating, a cheery lion-like figure adorned the stem of the ship, the usual dark threatening colours were replaced by reds, yellows, gold's, white and the smooth light brown of the wood used to build the ship… he could only guess what type of wood was used in the building of this, rather magnificent if he did say so himself, ship… it had to be a strong wood, Iceberg wouldn't have allowed his saviours to leave his city without a ship that could carry them to the ends of the earth and back that was for sure.

Sneaking onto the ship had been far too easy for his feline grace and cunning, slipping past the sleeping swordsman on deck like a mere shadow in the night, he understood how easily the green haired man could sense danger, he'd been quick, agile and swift as he snuck into the large ship, much larger than their first, probably twice the size.

He searched the ships rooms with the silence he was renowned for, looking for the captains cabin, surely there had to be one on the ship… the captain couldn't sleep with his crew after all… no captain would… would they?

He found the female cabin easily enough, an average sized room with two dressers, two beds and a line of cupboards on the far side, two big, red and rather comfortable looking chairs and a table in between them right dead centre of the room, neat, tidy… and it held the scent of flowers, he turned and eyed the women in their beds, remembering that sweet scent from Enies Lobby… Nico Robin… she was so close, he knew that if he made an attempt on her life, she'd surely alert the rest of the crew to his presence, he wouldn't be able to silence her quick enough after all, he had to admit though, from the first to the last time he'd seen her… he'd noted that the woman was remarkably beautiful, he remembered hearing a marine mention how she was 'hot' way back on Enies Lobby, he remembered internally agreeing but outwardly, not looking as though he'd actually noticed… he honestly doubted he could go through with killing her in her sleep, it'd be _such_ a waste.

Then there was the ginger long haired Navigator who had defeated Kalifa… he'd be able to silence her quick enough and he wouldn't really care about doing it either, she seemed to cocky to him, but it would wake the sleeping Oharan, he doubted it was entirely worth it.

Figuring the men's quarters would be below, as the females were above, he slipped out of the room and down the staircase, turning on his heel to the right, he walked to the arch-like door in the middle of the ship and twisted the handle, opening it with a light click, he froze for a second, glancing to the left, to make sure he hadn't awoken the swordsman sleeping on deck.

When all he got was a snort and a continuation of the nearly unbearable snoring from the one eyed man green haired man, Lucci pushed the door open; marvelling slightly at how no sound was produced, well oiled hinges he guessed… whoever they'd had join them in their crew was surely an apt shipwright… perhaps Paulie had followed them, it would make sense… he didn't really have anything in Water 7 besides his job and his debts after all.

What he was met by wasn't the sight of quarters, but a large aquarium type room, filled with exotic fish, large and small, Missile Manta ray, Balloon catfish, caltrop starfish and blue-striped clams… even Beat Alligator and Ice fish swam languidly in the clear blue waters of the aquarium. Couches lined the base of the large tank, a centre piece with a servers lift in the long cylindrical tube of wood, chairs surrounding the circular table set into the wood, he guessed from this that the kitchen should be above the rather spectacular if that were there… Kaku would have surely loved this ship but after watching the fish with feline curiosity for a brief moment he removed himself from the room.

He glanced from side to side; taking care not to mess up the strangely placed grass on deck, before he noticed a door, hidden to the left of the staircase he'd walked down, it was likely to be the males' quarters.

Stepping up to the door, he twisted the handle, keeping an eye on the green haired man, Roronoa Zoro if he remembered correctly, the man who had defeated the second strongest of CP9, Kaku, he was sure he could hold his own up against the man though, the captain was his only main concern. When he was certain the man hadn't awoken, he slipped through the door and into a large… albeit messy room. Bunk beds lined the right side of the room, a square of mats in the middle of the rooms' floor, a pile of randomly assorted clothes in front of the beds, their own wanted posters adorning the walls like they were trophies, he raised an arched eyebrow, it was much different to the female quarters that was for sure.

He turned to look at the beds, the rest of the crew was ever present, the sniper, who he was certain adorned that stupid mask back in Enies Lobby, it could only have been him, the little pet, who undoubtedly… wasn't a pet, any fool could realize that fact, the thing had a devil fruit after all. The cook who had beaten Jyabura… he smirked, Franky, more than likely the designer of this ship no doubt.

Then his eyes caught the sight of something extremely odd… a skeleton? He stepped closer to get a closer look, if he remembered correctly from old Wanted posters and the news of the skeletons success in the music industry, this was the acting captain of the destroyed Rumbar Pirates, and the musician of the Mugiwara pirates, he could only take a guess at how a skeleton could join a crew though, but he figured it had something to do with Monkey D Luffy's way of doing things.

He looked around the rest of the beds, empty… but there on one of the beds… a straw hat. The captain DID sleep with his crew, Lucci found that strange, most captains had their own cabin, but then the rubber man wasn't exactly like most captains he figured.

After realizing Monkey D Luffy wasn't in the room, he vacated it, only to get a whiff of what could only be described as meat, but since the cook was asleep… who would be in the kitchen, everyone else was asleep… either Luffy had another new crewmember or… Luffy was in the kitchen.

After making his mind up, Lucci climbed the staircase and turned to the left towards the door towards what he'd figured was the kitchen, it was right above the aquarium as he'd deduced earlier.

He thought about what he was about to do, he was about to walk in on the person who'd actually managed to beat him, the person who had pretty much destroyed his life… and he hadn't quite planned what he'd be doing after it either. He grabbed the handle nevertheless and turned it, pushing the door open, it creaked… the only door he'd opened that had creaked, he didn't know WHY it hadn't been oiled correctly like the others, he doubted he'd ever really find out, but it creaked nonetheless, alerting the raven haired rubber captain inside, his immediate reaction?

"I'M NOT EATING ANYTHING, SANJI" Lucci just stared at him, obviously the boy WAS eating pretty much everything in the fridge, if his bulging rubbery cheeks and the bones from whatever he'd eaten still half sticking out of his mouth had any indication to that fact. Then the boy realized the man in the doorway WASN'T his ever watchful cook… but someone else, a brow raised, he swallowed to allow a confused look to spread across his face 'eh… who're you?' the tone wasn't spiteful, as a captain who'd beaten him probably would use, but genuinely curious, Lucci's left eye twitched, the boy ruined his life and then FORGOTTEN about it? But that was the only expression he allowed to cross his face.

"You have forgotten? Well Mugiwara… you can rest assured I have not forgotten" that snapped Luffy's memory back, that voice, that bored deep yet commanding tone of voice, Water 7… CP9.

Immediately he was on guard, food ALMOST forgotten, he couldn't really forget his food now could he, he stood still, staring at Lucci with something akin to recognition and anger, but not quite, there was a curious gleam in his brown eyes, Lucci could sense the boy didn't quite know what to do in the situation.

"I won't let you take Robin, Pigeon bastard" confidence radiated in the boys whole stature, Lucci remarked at how the boy had changed, the large cross-like scar decorating his chest, the change in attire, his hair had grown slightly, then again they all had grown since Enies Lobby.

Lucci simply shook his head, putting his dangerous hands into his pockets. "I'm not here for your archaeologist Mugiwara, I'm no longer with the Government" he answered coolly, Luffy's angered expression melted to pure curiosity now, it struck Lucci as strange that the boy wasn't immediately attempting to fight him, he had to stop assuming all pirates were the same.

"Then what do you want…" Luffy questioned, his eyebrow raised, his posture a little more relaxed 'and what are you doing here?" Lucci didn't know why he answered the questions, self preservation instincts perhaps?

"Myself and the other ex-agents… we were on the island, however only I noticed the ship, I didn't know what was going through my mind when I stepped aboard, but you should talk to that swordsman about staying diligent on his watch post" Lucci rolled his emerald eyes to emphasize his disappointment with the lack of guard on this ship… the ship of a man who's bounty was WAY over average in an astounding amount of 400,000,000 beli, but then again why would he NEED the security, the boy could probably fight his way out of HELL unscathed Lucci was sure of that, he'd made quick work of Impel down to prove that fact too.

"Neh Zoro's fine where he is… why aren't you working with the government anymore?" Luffy asked, sitting down on the counter top, almost too relaxed considering the dangerous man in the doorway.

"Spandam blamed us for the failure on Enies Lobby… with that failure our titles would have been stripped and we would have been erased… we ran, and now we're island hopping to evade capture from the Marines" Lucci responded, almost emotionlessly, almost being the key word, even the absentminded rubbery captain could tell Lucci had pretty much lost EVERYTHING with that defeat, he could tell it had effected him on some emotional level. He decided to change the subject.

"… Where's your pigeon?"

"At the hotel resting with the others" Lucci responded evenly, he hadn't wanted to wake up his little feathery companion, Hattori had had a distressing few years after the defeat; he deserved his rest whenever he could get it.

"… So you've been running from the marines for 2 years?" Luffy asked, his head tilted to the side, Luffy could only summarize that it was definitely similar to a pirates' life. Lucci simply shrugged his shoulders 'why didn't you join someone's' pirate crew?' Lucci's response was simple, narrowing his eyes into one murderous glare and a scowl that could cause heart attacks to people with weak hearts. "It's not THAT bad!" Luffy let out a loud hearty laugh, completely unaffected by Lucci's signature 'you're going to die now' scowl.

"It's a disgrace to an ex-government-

-Ah but its freedom! You get to do whatever you want whenever you want to, don't have people telling yo-

-If you have a captain, yes you do" Lucci cut Luffy off just like Luffy had done to him, Luffy let out his signature 'shi-shi-shi' laugh, while Lucci marvelled at how relaxed the air seemed to be, there was no tenseness, no anger… just calm conversation really, Luffy hadn't seem to realize how strange it was.

"Not all captains give out orders right left and centre" there was another trademark Luffy trait, his grin.

"Oh? And I suppose you don't keep your crew on their toes, you don't order them around, keep them in line?" Lucci sneered, but to his surprise, Luffy shrugged and shook his head, the smile still in place only a little less large.

"My crew do whatever they want whenever they want to, we're equals… I'd give my life for my crew as you should know, and they'd do the same for me, not all pirates are cutthroats, Pigeon guy" Luffy grabbed some meat on the bone from his pile of food and bit down on the soft tender meat

"I have a name." Lucci sighed, trying not to think about how nice it would be to have all of that… he had his team yes… and they sure enough protected him as he'd protect them… but they had no semblance of what they wanted to do with their lives, they were just going through each day with no hope or dreams, nothing to live for.

"Hmmm..." he genuinely looked like it HURT to think "Lucy…" Lucci's left eye twitched "wait no that's a girls name… Lucci, that's it right?" Lucci responded with a simple nod of his head "you don't have to just stand there you know, Lucci, if you're not here to hurt anyone you _can_ sit down" Luffy nodded to the chairs at the large square table facing the rather impressive kitchen, that cook must have been a first class one if he took this much care of his kitchen.

Lucci, with his usual grace, moved to the chairs and sat down; facing the rubber captain "it strikes me as odd…" he remarked

"Hm?"

"That you don't find this at all strange or that you're not defensive in any way… we nearly killed each other 2 years ago, yet you're acting as if we're 'friends'" Lucci raised an eyebrow, folding his arms across his muscled white shirt clad chest.

Luffy shrugged his shoulders and bit into the meat on the bone once again, swallowing what he'd torn off before responding "you're not here to hurt anyone though, why should I try and hurt you, I've already beaten you once and since you only hurt my crew once… you don't deserve a second beating, not really done anything else to me or my crew to deserve it have you?" Luffy smiled, putting the empty bone down

Lucci shook his head in response to the question, he was right, he hadn't hurt his crew twice, just the once… then something caught his attention, the smell of flowers, he glanced around, until he caught sight of a blue eye on the wall, disappearing into a burst of petals after being noticed… "Nico Robin knows I'm here, I should go" Lucci stood up, not wanting to cause any trouble, like Luffy said… he'd only harmed them once, a second time would require a second beating, and he didn't quite feel like being put into a second coma.

"You know… if you promised not to kill the enemies we face… you could always join us, you and the others… I bet Zoro would love a practice partner, and we have spare beds… Franky could build a new one for the girls' room for that secretary person..." Lucci had just stared at him after 'you could join us' frozen in his tracks… admittedly shocked at the offer, who wouldn't be… well if they were in Lucci's position of course.

"… Why not killing anyone?" Lucci questioned with a raised brow

"I don't kill… and neither do my crew… I think its best to let them live with their defeats… but yours kinda sucks a bit more than normal doesn't it, shi-shi-shi" Luffy sniggered, Lucci shook his head and walked to the door

"At least speak with your crew before offering such a deal…" Lucci twisted the handle to the door, pulling it open

"I'll ask them then, come back tomorrow at around… err… 4-ish?" Luffy cast the elder man a signature grin, gaining a brief nod in return as Lucci left the ship, his mind set on the fact that Monkey D Luffy's crew, would never agree to such a preposterous idea.

Thus, he quickly departed from the ship without looking back, heading back for the hotel he and the others were staying at, hoping to slip back in as unnoticed as he'd slipped out.

* * *

><p><em>Newest Story... dont worry it's complete so you dont have to worry about updates lols... there should be small sequels and stuff to it every now and then :) <em>

_I know Luffy is a LITTLE OOC as he just forgives and forgets when we all know... yeah he doesnt just forgive like that lols._

_but yeah, review plz! _


	2. Chapter 2

Rob Lucci had made it back to the hotel easily enough, and got back in without alerting anyone to him having gone, so the fact nobody was there to question his leaving left him time to think, should he even mull over the offer made by the rubbery captain? Should he think about how life would be like as a pirate… well he didn't know if the Straw-Hat boys crew could even be CALLED pirates, sure they acted like it and they'd announced it on various occasions, but if reports were anything to go by, they did more good than the government put together.

First there was that pathetic marine commander Axe-Hand Morgan terrorizing a town in the East Blue.

Then there were reports of the defeat of a previously presumably dead Captain Kuro of the Black Cat pirates who had attacked a peaceful island in the east blue.

Then there were reports of Don Krieg's defeat near the floating restaurant the Baratie, Arlong, king Wapol who had terrorized his own kingdom.

The Shichibukai Crocodile, whom had used his status to nearly destroy the desert kingdom Arabasta,

So many incidents that so many knew so little about around the oceans, that pirate had helped cities, countries, individual people without asking for anything in return, honestly he couldn't actually see the link to him being anything of a pirate… besides the obvious skull and crossbones and the need to piss off the government of course.

His ship didn't even RESEMBLE a typical pirate ship, the only semblance of piracy shown on that ship were the skull and crossbones painted on the flag and main sails.

Lucci lay in his bed that night, unable to sleep, just staring at the ceiling, Hattori had awoken briefly in the night, sensing some form of distress from his master, but with a quick reassurance to his small feathery companion that everything was fine, the little white bird was back to sleep with his head under his wing without any more fuss.

Lucci knew being a pirate would be similar to their current predicament of running from their once allied forces, he presumed Luffy's crew wouldn't trust them, as his own team wouldn't trust Mugiwara, maybe not at first anyway.

The one thing he knew for a FACT, was that Kaku would surely love that ship, perhaps he'd even end up helping take care of it, the man was extremely fond of carpentry and shipbuilding, Lucci could still remember Kaku rushing up to himself or Jyabura with a small perfectly crafted model ship as a child, showing off his latest build with the proudest grin on his face that Lucci had ever seen.

Perhaps, perhaps it was best to agree to Mugiwara proposal… if only to see where it would take them in the end, maybe to their death… or maybe to a new beginning, he didn't know, but what he did know was this, the offer had been made, it was up to not only Mugiwara's crew, but his own team as well.

Elsewhere on the Thousand Sunny, Luffy had gained another visitor in the kitchen, it wasn't Sanji either. Nico Robin sat at the table across from Luffy, in the very seat Lucci had sat on while he'd been there. Luffy knew Robin had been watching, he knew the horror she'd been through in Enies Lobby, he'd heard it all, he'd SAVED her, nearly giving his own life in the process, he could tell she didn't know what to do in the situation, given her obviously worried posture and how expression didn't radiate the serene calm that it usually did.

"Robin… before I ask any of the others, do you think I should?" Luffy asked after a few moments of near deafening silence

"Well Luffy, as you are the captain, it's really your place to decide, I barely even noticed him on board… if he hadn't have gotten so close, I wouldn't have noticed at all… he and the ex-agents could be a valuable asset to the crew, they could even end up as valued members of our Nakama… it wasn't CP9 who tortured me in Enies Lobby, no… Spandam did that… I cannot fault Rob Lucci or his team, they weren't part of the CP9 who were involved with the destruction of Ohara… or the ones who harmed me in Enies Lobby, Rob Lucci even defied an order to show compassion…" Robin trailed off, remembering back to when Spandam had ordered Lucci to drag her along… by her hair, only to have him gently pick her up by the arm, it had surprised her at the time, compassion in hell… compassion from the one man renowned for giving only death and destruction.

"He showed compassion?" Luffy tilted his head to the side, a confused look on his young face, he hadn't heard about any compassion being shown to his valued Nakama on Enies Lobby, however he doubted it'd have made much difference to the end result if he had have known, going easy on Lucci as thanks would have only resulted in his own death.

"Yes…" Robin was content to say no more on the matter, she was sure a man like Rob Lucci wouldn't want just anyone knowing he could be compassionate.

"Hm" Luffy frowned, putting his chin in his hand, a thoughtful look crossing his face "do you think the others would agree… they went through a lot… maybe Franky might be put off," Luffy sure as hell didn't want to upset his Nakama with his choice, he knew the two most effected crew members would be Franky, and Robin, Robin so far wasn't showing any resistance to the idea, but Franky was asleep, so he'd have to wait until morning to get the large cyborgs opinion on it, however at the end of the day, it really did come down to Luffy's decision, and Luffy had already decided.

Robin let a smile cross her features, the captain was so childlike at times, even though he'd matured greatly since his brothers passing, he still acted like the child she'd joined up with in faith; she'd never regretted it, or questioned his decisions, they always turned out right in the end after all. "I'm sure Franky would agree if it was what you wished"

Luffy rubbed his head and let out a loud sigh before hopping off of the counter he was sat on and wandering around to the fridge "Eeehh you hungry Robin?" Robin just smiled, usually Sanji would be the one offering her food, and she wasn't quite sure if she trusted that particular field with Luffy's cooking skills… she was sure the boy could probably burn water, however, she neither said yes or no, prompting the young captain to look over at his archaeologist with a raised eyebrow, to which she simply nodded her head.

He gave her a signature grin and prepared to make a sandwich out of whatever was left over in the fridge, which he had to admit, wasn't much, although in his two year period of training, Rayleigh had taught him the first steps in learning how to cook and prepare food for himself to live off on his own, so preparing a sandwich out of leftovers wasn't all too difficult for him now, even though Sanji WAS still very much required.

There was a sudden crash and the door opened wide to reveal a long black trouser clad leg, attached to a rather livid chain smoking chef "Luffy what the fuck is with all the- ROBIN-CHWAAAN!" the angry expression switched to one of adoration when he noticed the raven haired woman at the table, then he noticed Luffy piling random things onto a sandwich, messily.

"Hello Sanji-kun… Luffy-san was making me a sandwich I believe" Robin gave the cook a serene smile, melting his heart as she'd planned, all but two of the crew realized that Robins charming little smiles and serene gazes all brought down to one plot, to melt the heart and save her captain from whoever had nefarious plots for him within the crew, such as Sanji's immediate decision to beat him up for raiding the kitchen again, gone immediately as soon as he saw that smile.

Sanji turned to face the rubber captain, who hadn't really paid any attention to the cooks' entrance, regardless of the pile of bones and random leftovers on the countertop, which of course Sanji would have to clean up later, with a grim look on his face "Luffy you're making a damn mess" he commented sourly, taking a cigarette and lighter from his pocket, putting it in his mouth and lighting it smoothly.

"Neeehh, Robin was hungry! And you were asleep" Luffy blinked up at the blond with a confused stare, he didn't quite get what he'd done wrong there.

Robin just watched them with mild amusement, she'd kept close to the front of her mind that the lover of Dark Justice from Enies Lobby had sat in that very chair not an hour beforehand, she knew he'd been in the female quarters, probably the male too, she'd sensed his presence, that strong, powerful presence that only came from men of his strength and stature, that cologne, the smell of whatever he used to wash his long loosely waved hair, the feel of his warm breath so close to her skin, seemingly a mere wisp of the wind, however she knew for a fact, wind did not get into their rooms so easily, Franky had made sure of that.

She didn't get why she hadn't acted as soon as she'd noticed the presence, instead opting to stay as if she were asleep, silent and unmoving, she hadn't understood why he opted to leave her alive either, leaving without touching anyone, so she'd spied, opening her eyes around the ship to watch where he stepped, and when he entered the kitchen, her focus strengthened, ears appearing on the wood hidden on the far side of the countertop, away from view so she could hear the conversation, she'd expected a fight to occur, when it didn't… it had surprised her more than she'd openly admit.

"You should have woken me up then you shitty bastard!" Sanji scowled, nudging Luffy aside so he could work on the sandwich, which by the second looked better and better, much better than Luffy's preparation skills, however Robin wouldn't dare say she'd really cared much for presentation in meals… it was a nice thought, but it didn't matter much to her how it was presented, not that she'd tell Sanji that, less she break his little heart.

"Luffy-san, perhaps you should ask Sanji-kun if he agrees with your idea, since he's awake I mean" Robin spoke with her usual calmness, her usual soft disarming smile which hid her dangerous and deadly nature so well curled at her lips.

"Idea? What idea?" Sanji looked at Luffy with a frown as the young captain hoisted himself up onto the counter top, swinging his legs back and forth, occasionally hitting the wood panelling of the cabinets.

"I invited that cat guy from water 7 to join us! He seemed sad…" Luffy frowned, looking down at his sandaled feet.

"Cat guy… what cat guy?" Sanji raised a curled eyebrow, stopping in the preparation of the sandwich to stare at the raven haired boy; Luffy looked at Robin, whom nodded her head briefly to back his decision up wordlessly.

"Eh… Lucci, the cat guy… with the pigeon, him and the other assassin people, they're on this island, Lucci said they'd been running from the government for 2 years… like we do all the time! So I thought… they could join us!" Luffy gave him his usual child-like grin, Sanji just stared, his cigarette loosely hanging from his mouth, he glanced at Robin, whom simply smiled her agreement, she'd made her decision on the matter, she'd follow her captains decisions without question, he always knew best, regardless of how stupid the ideas seemed at first.

"CP9? Thought we wrecked those guys back in Enies Lobby… guess they must have survived that Buster Call too then eh? Shitty bastards…" he grumbled, chewing on the filter of his cigarette before he continued "well, you're the captain right? If Robin-chwan agrees I might as well" he shrugged then continued working on the small yet finally decent looking sandwich.

Luffy's grin widened as Sanji said he'd agree to it, which just left Nami Franky Ussop and Chopper, not to leave out Brooke, but Brooke wasn't really around for the fiasco in Water 7… so Luffy decided Brooke probably wouldn't mind as much as the others.

Luffy quickly swiped up a bit of meat from the side of the plate which Sanji had so expertly chopped off during the refining of the messy sandwich "they'll be coming tomorrow… I guess the others will have to make the decision when they get here" Luffy shrugged his shoulders without a care in the world.

"Luffy… are you sure that Rob Lucci will be able to get the others to actually join a pirate crew?" Robin asked with one delicate eyebrow raised as she looked at the child-like captain.

"Uhm… well… if the leader'll go, maybe the others will too!" Luffy continued to grin; he didn't mind that there was only a slight chance that they'd get new family members; it didn't matter to him that those new members would be ex-mass murderers, new family was new family.

"Well, we can't argue with that logic now can we" Sanji commented with a hint of sarcasm and a brief grin to Robin, who simply smiled back at him with no hint of any underlying emotion, as usual.


	3. Chapter 3

Morning came far too swiftly for Rob Lucci; he had led awake the entire night, his body did not require the same amount of rest as average men and women, forsaking one night to his rampaging thoughts meant nothing to him in the long run, it was just one night, plus it came with the advantage of thinking his position through, he would be required to inform his team about the offer, he could not just ignore it, it had been given in faith by someone stronger than himself, the one thing he respected in life was strength, and that… child… had it by bucket loads, no matter how humiliating his defeat had been, he'd been defeated… respect was due to the straw hat wearing boy for his strength, not only physical, but mental strength as well.

At first break of dawn Lucci slid out of the warm hotel room bed and swiftly went through the process of getting himself ready for the day, including checking that his unpacked bags were still in order. After this daily routine, he walked out of his room. In a brisk even pace, he walked to each door on that corridor and knocked once with an added verbal command 'lounge, I'll give you five minutes before I come back' then walked off to the aforementioned destination, Hattori fluttering out of the room after him and perching on his shoulder as always.

Approximately 4 minutes and 57 seconds later, the ex-agents had congregated in the hotels lounge area to talk. The lounge was a large open space, a set of stairs in the middle of the room leading up to the levels with rooms, the walls were a cream with gold trim making the establishment look more sophisticated than it truly was, small green plants decorated the corners of the room and both sides of the check in desk, fake of course. Then, situated to the left side of the room rested an area, a circular arrangement of chairs with a table in the centre.

The agents all sat around that area, the other residents in the hotel had gotten the picture that none of the group were to be disturbed after Kalifa had kicked a man through a wall the previous day for grabbing her ass, all the while rightfully accusing him of sexual harassment, they were lucky not to be thrown out of the hotel.

They focused solely on Lucci; even Jyabura's gave him some of his attention, not that he'd admit to listening to Lucci ever in a million years; all of them wanting to know what the dark man had requested their presence for.

"Well then, cat… what's this about then eh?" Jyabura finally spoke up after a moment of rather deafening silence, Lucci's sharp gaze fixated on Jyabura, for a second they were on edge, nobody knew what went through the mans' mind at any given moment, not that they'd ever volunteer to find out, however instead of a witty yet bored come back to Jyabura's insult, Lucci simply opened his mouth to answer the question.

"We have been given an offer to join a rather odd crew" he responded, Kuku went to open his mouth to ask however he stopped when Lucci raised his hand to silence him "I understand it may be a shock that I'm actually considering accepting the offer, as this crew is in fact a Pirate crew" he continued, then gave Jyabura a sharp glare as the wolf man went to speak, shutting him up immediately "if you take into consideration the time we've spent running, avoiding and hiding from the government these past 2 years, it would be logical to join them, as we're in the same metaphorical boat as they are" Lucci concluded, finishing off his explanation neatly, leaving room for them to finally ask questions.

"What crew is it… do we know of them? Are they even capable of holding their own against us?" Kaku questioned eager to find out more about this mysterious pirate crew who'd offered them shelter; Lucci bit back a smile at Kaku's constant humorous child-like behaviour, it had certainly made their lives easier to bear for the past 2 years.

"To answer those questions in order, the crew who have so…graciously, given us the offer to join them, was none other than the Mugiwara crew, yes we do know of them, and I think we all know how strong that crew really is" Lucci responded evenly, he noted that the expressions of his comrades had changed drastically after he mentioned the crews signature name, a name well known throughout the seas for the captains astounding actions on Marinefold 2 years previously.

"Oi-oi have you been on the catnip? When did they give us that offer? 'ow did they even find us?" Jyabura finally burst out, incapable of holding in his questions any longer

"No I have not touched that infernal collection of herbs, Monkey D Luffy gave the offer last night aboard his ship, it is moored off the eastern coast of the island, I noticed it a few nights ago… it seems we've just been missing them in town. It was a freak occurrence; I doubt they had any intentions of finding us here." Lucci spoke with an air of confidence as he personally knew, if the captain had given the request, his crew really had no choice but to follow in his lead, he wouldn't admit though, that the thought of Nico Robin taking personal offense to what had transpired in enies lobby, worried him greatly.

It was no secret that the calm beautiful woman could be devastating in the highest order with her strangely appealing devil fruit power; it was also obvious that before she was placed into those seastone handcuffs, she could have escaped their grasp with very little effort in water 7.

"And his crew, do they agree with this?" Kaku asked, a frown on his face, he couldn't hide his thrill at the idea of seeing the green haired swordsman again, maybe even fight him again, it would be good to have a training partner that could really match up to him!

Lucci sighed and shrugged his shoulders "there's no way to know until we go today, Monkey D Luffy has given us a time to be there, 4 o'clock is the set time, now this is not just my decision alone, you must make your choices… and make them now, will you join me in returning to the ship to hear the verdict, or go your own way?" Kaku glanced around the faces of his comrades, would they really separate after all they'd been through together, he understood Kumadori and Fukurou separating after the first year… they'd found something they wanted to do on an island somewhere far behind them, so they had opted to separate from the group to follow what they wanted to do… but Kaku didn't want them ALL to separate, he wouldn't know what he'd do on his own.

"W-Well… I'll come with you" Kaku spoke up after a moment a stutter of meek uncertainty, he wouldn't leave Lucci, Lucci had never left them, no matter how cruel or sadistic or even complicatedly scary he was; he had never left his comrades.

"If the veggie ere's goin ah guess I'll go too" Jyabura gave a grin, wrapping an arm around Kaku's shoulders, earning a mild glare in response. Lucci nodded and looked to the others, the top strongest 3 were in, it was just the other 2 present in question now.

Kalifa gave a sigh and adjusted her glasses "What if we cannot fit in? These are the pirates who ended our careers, how will we fit in with their crew, their daily routines, I don't see how assassins can fit aboard their crew" Lucci nodded his head, acknowledging her problems with understanding, however as he opened his mouth to respond, Kaku beat him to it.

"We probably won't fit in straight away, but there's always the chance that we will eventually be just like part of the crew, why forsake an opportunity to do this while we have it!" while Lucci listened to Kaku trying to explain the finer points to taking leaps of faith, he glanced around the room with his eyes alone, no hint to the fact that he was in fact looking around, taking in the meaningless human beings wandering around the spacious room, up and down the stairs, the bellhops carrying bags for the lazy buffoons staying there, then he noticed something else… something very different… an eye.

In the far side of the room in one of the corners, rested a bright blue eye on the wall, hidden partially by one of the fake plants, he glanced around once more, before sensing the distinct scent of blossom flowers, and not too far away either, he followed the scent with his eyes alone, catching sight of an ear hidden on the stem of the nearest fake plant, hidden amongst the greenery… they were being spied on.

Lucci had no idea if Monkey D Luffy had told Nico Robin to do this, or whether she was doing it of her own accord, however regardless of why she was doing it, Lucci turned his head towards the eye and simply smirked, to which it immediately disappeared into a burst of petals, Robin knowing she'd been caught, the ear followed shortly after. Lucci then returned to listening to the conversation. Blueno had begun to speak

"It would be a smart to join them I'll hand that to you, they're strong… and continually running from the government puts its strain even on us, we won't last on our own forever, it would be beneficial for us to go." The large man put a comforting hand on Kalifa's shoulder, the only one of the group who seemed uneasy about the idea.

"At least give it a go, maybe they'll let us tag along for a trial run, see if it works" Jyabura chuckled, he knew that to join a pirate crew meant for life, unless the captain said otherwise, but then even he knew that the Straw-hat pirates captain, was no normal captain.

"Fine… we're in then Lucci; I reserve the right to mention that I told you so if this goes horribly wrong" Kalifa declared in a confident tone, as if she would actually tell Rob Lucci 'I told you so' when they all knew for a fact, that she wouldn't dare.

"Of course" Was the only thing the dark hared man responded with before standing up and looking down at them, Hattori fluffing his wings briefly before copying his master "pack your things and do some last minute shopping if you need to, we have only a few more hours before we'll be expected at the Straw-hat's ship, we will meet back here at 3:30 then I will show you to the ship" he nodded to them then walked off towards the door, leaving them to their own devices until the time required for him to care.


	4. Chapter 4

It was 3:15pm; Monkey D Luffy hung from the crossbeam of the main mast, upside down, his legs wrapped around it to keep himself up, the reason for this odd position: he was bored.

He decided at around 2 o'clock that he should have said some time earlier than 4, because now he had to wait, and everyone who knew the young rubbery captain would know that the young raven haired boy would not, and could not sit still for more than 10 minutes.

Since the time was drawing near however, Luffy decided now would probably be the best time to explain to his crew about whom exactly would be visiting them in 45 minutes, and who could quite possibly be staying with them for the duration of the voyage, and so with the plan set in mind, his legs spun round the mast, releasing the grip he held on with and left him to drop to the floor, which was done without harm of course thanks to the boys rubbery and lithe movements.

He landed on his sandaled feet on the warm grass, earning the attention of Robin who had been mysteriously absent for about an hour not to long beforehand, something which had undoubtedly freaked Sanji out, as he'd been making accusations like how CP9 may have kidnapped her again.

As luck would have it, the day had turned out to be an absolute scorcher, so most of the crew were up on deck, besides Sanji whom was diligently cooking something to offer to the guests when they arrived, more specifically the beautiful blonde he distinctly remembered.

Luffy picked his hat from where it hung on his back and placed it on his head, before looking around the deck at his crew, immediately gaining their attention, he didn't need to say anything for them to know he was about to, even Zoro snorted awake when he sensed something about to happen.

"Okay, I think I should probably let you guys know that there'll be visitors coming to the ship in about 45 minutes if they're on time!" he announced, a wide grin on his face

"We're getting visitors, what visitors?" Nami asked after a pause, looking up at him from where she was sunbathing.

"Urrm… well, it's a surprise!" Luffy grinned, putting his hands on his hips and nodding his head

"Luffy… perhaps you should tell them who it truly is, it's possible that they may act defensively towards them if they don't know, we wouldn't want to spook our guests and cause some unsettling problems now would we?" Robin spoke from the side-lines, her arms crossed over her chest, relaxed; she was smiling as she usually did.

"Eeehh I guess not… okay I'll tell them" Luffy decided after a very brief moment of thought, he took a breath and began to speak "now, I know a few of you will be a little shocked at this, Brooke not included as you weren't with us for it" Brook nodded his head in understanding, he knew he hadn't been around for a lot of what had happened to the crew, but he'd seen plenty to know they were close, and was happy as ever to be included in the merry crew. "Last night Rob Lucci of CP9 entered the ship" all but Brooke were immediately on alert, Brooke just looking around wondering who the mysterious Rob Lucci was and why he elicited such a response from the other crew members, especially since Chopper looked rather haunted, like something horrid had happened.

"Rob Lucci? You sure you don't mean someone else?" Nami asked a frown on her face, Rob Lucci had been one of the causes in all the trouble in Water 7, a hate filled man with seemingly no emotions, and he'd been THERE? She looked at Robin with a curious gaze, asking an unvoiced question.

"Yes Nami-san… Rob Lucci was aboard the Thousand Sunny late last night, he entered the female quarters while we were asleep, he woke me up, I don't think he realized that he had though" Robin spoke softly, catching the others by surprise, they had thoroughly expected her to be somewhat scared. "It seems as though they've been running from the government, as we do… hence Luffy graciously offered that they join us" Robin finished, allowing Luffy to continue,

"Obviously, since Robin doesn't mind, I gotta ask the next most affected by it" he turned to Franky's large from "Franky…?" he asked more than spoke, the Cyborg sighed and rubbed a hand over his smooth head.

"Bro, if you think it's wise then i can't argue, besides… we can always kick their asses again if they cause trouble right?" Franky grinned, lifting his shades to wink at the rubbery boy, whom grinned and nodded his head, not that he'd actually let nakama hurt nakama, no matter how much trouble they were to each other.

"Umm, may I ask who Rob Lucci is?" Brooke questioned, looking around the crew with about as much of an expression of curiosity as a skeleton could muster. Luffy went to answer but then looked at Robin, she could probably explain it better than he could; Robin got the message and stepped forward.

"Rob Lucci was the strongest member of the governments' secret assassination group known as Cipher Poll 9, also the only person to ever bring Luffy to the brink of death with mere brute force alone" Luffy pouted slightly at this, he knew it were true, not that he'd want to admit it though. Brooke stared at her in astonishment as she continued "he is ruthless, a carnivorous zoan type, Neko-Neko no mi model: Leopard, one of the three zoan type users in his group, I'm unaware of what the others change into, however the last time I saw him, he was sadistic and had a lust for battle unlike I've ever seen, I'm unsure on his current personality set, but that was what we left him with." Robin explained with a calm serenity that everyone just stared at her for, she talked about him as if she idolized him for his sadism "if you wish to know the entire story, Nami-san wrote the occurrence down in one of the ships logbooks." She finished, she then noticed the stares from her crewmates and in response she simply smiled tranquilly and sat back down.

"Luffy… they're carnivores, is it safe for them to be here around me?" Chopper asked with a worried frown, sure he could hold his own against some of them alright, but not the leopard.

"They won't hurt you Chopper, not with us around" Luffy gave him a comforting grin and a thumbs-up "besides; you're a strong man aren't you?" Chopper immediately nodded his head, confidence regained. Luffy then turned to the others, Zoro had seemed to perk up slightly; Luffy guessed it could be because he'd finally get himself a sparring partner, Nami still didn't seem sure, Luffy was curious as to why Ussop looked so scared, Ussop wasn't even there…

"Oi-oi Luffy, do you really think this is smart! They could just be undercover again, trying to grab us!" Ussop protested, stepping forward, however Robin shook her head, stopping Luffy from questioning how Ussop even KNEW about them.

"I've been monitoring them since I saw Lucci aboard the ship; they truly are on the run… I've seen things like it before…packed bags strewn across hotel bedrooms, they've been looking over their shoulders all day, they're certainly on the run" Robin commented, knowing what being on the run was like, she'd done it herself, losing everything you knew and loved, ending up with nothing but the need to seek a place to belong.

"Considering our foes keep getting stronger and stronger, it'd be a good idea to strengthen our crew even more with what they can do" Zoro spoke up, his single eye as hard as usual, by no means betraying the fact that he just wanted a new sparring partner, Sanji wasn't nearly as skilled as he was in his area of fighting, the long nosed giraffe however… he put up one hell of a fight, went down like a true swordsman as well, with honour, something Zoro respected above all.

"See Zoro gets it!" Luffy grinned at Ussop, whom simply slapped his palm to his forehead and sat down on his work area beside the tree. "So is everyone okay with this?" Luffy questioned, looking around the crew, Brooke had seemingly withdrawn into himself after Robin's explanation into Rob Lucci however he nodded anyway, Nami nodded her head, eager to gather more suckers into debt, she betted that wolf would totally fall for her plots and schemes, just like Zoro did. Ussop shrugged his shoulders and nodded, giving in to his captain and best friends' ideas once again. Chopper nodded his head with a smile on his face; new nakama was welcome, no matter their history. Franky gave a thumbs-up giving his agreement.

Sanji and robin had already said their pieces on the matter, so he didn't need their agreements.

"YOSH, what time is it?" Luffy asked, looking around curiously, if only Franky had put in a clock somewhere on board

"It's 3:45 Luffy" Robin smiled, always one to have a watch on her at all times, Luffy nodded and scurried to the railings, hopping onto the wooden rail he sat down, holding on and looking like a kid at Christmas.

"They'll be here soon!" he grinned, seemingly too excited to contain himself, but then… Luffy always was when it came to gaining new nakama. His crew joined him at the railing, lined up against the white painted wood, waiting for the ex-assassins to arrive.

Elsewhere the group in question walked through the streets together, the crowds on the streets parting as they walked; an air of power radiating from the group that the citizens didn't dare question or challenge, Lucci up front, leading the group through the streets towards where he knew the ship had been docked.

"Are you sure this is wise?" Kalifa asked, still unsure about what they were doing

"Do not question my judgement Kalifa, it is rarely wrong" Lucci responded evenly, not even pausing to look at her as he walked, Kalifa nodded her head and walked on in silence.

They were nearing the area now, having separated from the main path of the town into the backstreets then into the forested areas behind the town, getting closer and closer to where the ship had been docked, they were early, but that didn't matter.

Chopper sniffed the air suddenly, a frown on his face "I smell carnivores… they're here Luffy" he looked up at his captain before looking ahead at the forest, as the group of ex-assassins walked from the shadows of the bushes, stopping in a line, Rob Lucci up in front, looking up at the straw hat wearing captain.

"Monkey D. Luffy" he acknowledged with a nod of his head.

"Rob Lucci" Luffy smiled, leaning further onto the railing, a gentle breeze blowing through the area, rustling the leaves on the trees.


	5. Chapter 5

Kaku stood in awe of the magnificent ship, it looked so unlike any pirate ship he'd ever seen before, but it was amazing none the less, he had no doubt that Iceburg-san had helped with this, only the famous Toms workers could pull off a ship like this, and Lucci had been ABOARD damn he couldn't wait to set foot on it, but he steeled himself, Lucci stood upfront addressing the straw hat captain, he couldn't just run and jump up, that'd be so unprofessional.

Luffy crossed his arms over his chest, standing up properly with a smile on his face "made your decision then?" he questioned loudly, making sure Lucci would be able to hear it from the distance, even though he didn't have to.

"We have, and you?" Lucci asked in an even tone, Luffy could still hear him mind you.

"Guys?" Luffy looked at his crew, whom all simultaneously gave their signs of acceptance, Franky's being a thumbs up, Nami smiled and nodded, Robin bowed her head and gave them one of her calm smiles, Brook laughed and lifted his top hat gesturing 'welcome', Chopper nodded his head with a childlike grin on his face, Sanji copied Franky's thumbs up Ussop begrudgingly nodded his head and Zoro gave a brief nod. "I think that answers that one!" Luffy laughed "what about yours?"

Lucci turned and looked at his fellow rogue agents, all of which took this as a sign to show their choices; in unison they simply bowed their heads in a nod. "We have made our decisions" Lucci spoke, looking back at Luffy "we will join you." He finished, Luffy's grin stretched even wider, if that were even possible.

"You guys better come on board then, the tides with us and the log pose is set, it's time to go" Nami leant forward onto the railing, her cheek resting in her palm, a smile on her face "do you have everything with you?" she asked

"We were unaware of what your judgement would be; our bags were left behind in the hotel" Lucci responded then turned to look at Kaku "Kaku?" he questioned, the capped man immediately got the idea and disappeared with the mere whisper of 'soru' Lucci then looked back up at Nami "he will be back momentarily," Nami nodded in response then pushed herself up and stepped back, heading back further into the ship to update the logs.

"Get on board then!" Luffy laughed, motioning with his thumb onto the ship, The ex-agents looked at each other for a brief moment, before stepping forward and with a collective 'geppou' they leapt on board, landing on the soft lush green grass on deck.

Lucci decided the ship looked much friendlier during the day than it did at night, he could feel his companions' nervousness at the situation, they had no idea what to expect from this crew, they were powerful and deadly… that was all they'd witnessed from these pirates. He smelt fear, his zoan locking onto it, one of the crew, the sniper, hiding behind the tree… interesting.

"What will we be required to do while on board?" Kalifa questioned, breaking the silence,

"Well Mountain Monkey will be expected to help me with the ship from time to time" Franky chuckled, leaning back against the railing "doesn't have to mind you but he could help if he wanted"

"Do you have specific talents?" Robin asked, stepping forward, the same calm and serene expression on her face as normal, none would be able to guess that there had been such a horrible interaction between the tall dark haired woman and the ex-assassins in front of her.

"I can clean… and organize things" Kalifa frowned, adjusting her glasses ever so slightly

"You could help Nami-san in keeping her maps and log books organized, perhaps even assist Franky in keeping the ship clean… or Sanji-kun with the dishes, I'm unsure if he'd allow you to mind you, he's of the mind-set that women shouldn't have to do anything" Robin let out a very soft laugh, covering her mouth with her hand gracefully, the rogue agents found it shocking that this woman could ever be called a devil, she seemed too graceful, too eloquent, to downright kind to be anything other than a simple woman.

"I can cook" Blueno spoke up, looking as blank as usual, rather daunting.

"Come join me then!" Sanji called from the raised walkway to the kitchen, a cigarette in hand, he'd obviously not heard Robin talk about him "I could use an assistant" he chuckled, putting the stick of tobacco, paper and filter back into his mouth. Blueno nodded his head and calmly walked up the stairs, joining Sanji in finishing off preparations for the meal he'd been preparing.

"And what about you?" Robin questioned Jyabura, who had sat down on the grass and was in the process of craning his head side to side to look around the deck

"Eh?" he asked, looking up at her "oh… er I don't really 'ave any other skills" he shrugged, Jyabura had been in the assassin gig the longest, he had no other talents, no other skills to fall back on like the others, he was a die-hard killer… that was all he knew.

"Hm… everyone must have more than one talent" a small frown gracing robins features

"He can play various woodwind instruments" Lucci suddenly chimed in, well… not chimed, more droned, his tone bored, as though he'd known this for years without letting anyone in on Jyabura's little secret. Jyabura frowned and turned to look at his zoans' rival

"'Ow'd you know that?" he asked, his tone indignant, like a child who had been caught in the act of something they shouldn't have been doing.

"I remember you turning a bamboo shoot into a flute" Lucci explained simply, Jyabura simply stared at him, not believing that Lucci would ACTUALLY remember a detail about what he could do and what he couldn't do, it was unreal, he'd never though Lucci took the time to get to know any of his colleagues, besides Kaku of course, Kaku had that kind of personality that nobody minded being around, even someone as secluded as Lucci, could enjoy Kaku's company.

"Brook-san?" Robin asked, turning to face the tall Skeleton, who had taken to cleaning his violin, he stopped immediately when Robin called his name however.

The wolf inside Jyabura immediately registered one thing, bone. He cursed his canine instincts, cursed them straight to hell, as his zoan was now focused on one thing and one thing only, all those bones, ready to be gnawed on.

"Yes Robin-san?" Brook questioned, taking a couple of steps over to the beautiful dark haired woman

"Jyabura play's musical instruments, I'm sure he and yourself will get along" a hand sprouted behind Jyabura and pulled him up onto his feet, before nudging him towards Brooke, who gladly accepted the offer of a musical apprentice and dragged the wolf-man away to see which instruments he could actually play.

Hattori ruffled his feathers as he sat on Lucci's shoulder, watching Robin, his little bird brain had forgotten who the woman was, but he knew her stare unnerved his master, therefore the little bird was on edge, wondering what was about to happen.

"And you, Rob Lucci… what can you do?" Robin asked, her eyes seemed harder now, although they hadn't changed in the slightest, her smile seemed sly although no change had been made, Lucci saw differences in her entirely where no differences were there to find, it unnerved him greatly. He composed himself, determined not to look weak or deterred by this devious woman in front of him.

"I enjoy reading… I have a high level of intellect and I'm marginally interested in history, perhaps I can assist you in your studies" his voice was like silk, smooth and suave, it wasn't the same as it had been prior to that answer, the previous answers and questions had sounded even, bored, yet commanding and strong, it made Robins heart race with anticipation, this man was entirely new, a new specimen to try and read, 'yes' she assured herself, sure that her racing heart was simple anticipation 'just another book to read'.


	6. Chapter 6

Kaku returned to the large ship with the bags piled in his arms, looking as though said bags weighed absolutely nothing; he'd ultimately been upset with being given the task of running back to the hotel, as that meant they'd get to go on board first, which he really didn't find all that fair. However there it was, larger twice-fold by its predecessor no doubt, took a breath, the distinct scent of Adam Wood filled his nostrils; there was no doubt about it the ship would make it to the ends of the oceans and back in one piece.

He leapt up, bags in hand, landing firmly on the lush green grass, he stopped for a moment, staring at the odd addition to the deck, grass, On a ship? He shook his head and placed the bags down, then looked up to find the leader of the rogue agents and the straw-hats archaeologist in a stare down, he gulped, wondering what was happening, then she turned her gaze to him and smiled warmly.

"Kaku-san, so glad you could join us, your friends have been given opportunities to do as they wish on board, if you want Franky has offered that you help him with maintaining the ship, if you accept, just head down that hatch" she spoke before pointing to an almost unnoticeable circular hatch in the grass "he's working on the dock system at the moment" she explained

After a momentary pause Kaku raised an eyebrow and tilted his head ever so slightly to the left "Dock System?" he asked curiously

"Go see for yourself" she smiled, motioning to the hatch again; he gave an uncertain nod before stepping to the hatch, opening it and climbing down out of sight.

"What about our bags?" Lucci frowned, looking at the pile with mild disdain, he internally wondered why his team had thought it wise to carry so much baggage, they were on the run, not moving house. Robin positioned her arms into an X over her chest in response.

"_Doce Fleur_" Robin mumbled, Lucci becoming marginally alert, but was put at ease when the arms appeared around the bags on deck, swiftly they were carried to their respective quarters, once done she separated her arms and dropped them to her side "I hope you don't mind but to keep with the idea that we are all equal on this ship, you will not have your own room, you will share with the other boys, and Kalifa shall share with myself and Nami-san, that won't be a problem will it?" she asked smoothly, he shook his head

"That won't be a problem" his smooth tone of voice remained the same as before. Lucci bit back a smirk as the usual response to his voice appeared in Robin's hormones, her posture never changed, it didn't betray what she felt, however the spike in hormones did.

"Good" she responded evenly, she knew how his senses were heightened so staying around the man for any longer probably wouldn't have been as wise, therefore she quickly constructed a plan to get him away "perhaps you would enjoy taking a tour of the ship, it would be best for you to know your way around, Sunny is unlike most ships, there are a lot of doors that lead to nowhere to trick any invaders, so its best you learn your way so you don't get lost" she smiled, not missing a beat, keeping up the facade of calm.

Lucci gave her a small smirk and nodded his head "of course, try not to miss me while I'm gone" he let out a brief dark chuckle which sent a shiver down her spine before stepping away from her and walking through the closest door back to the Aquarium he'd visited the night prior.

As soon as he'd left, she stepped to the swing on deck and sat down calmly, plucking her book up from the grass where she'd left it, knowing nobody would touch it, then opened it and continued reading from where she left off; making sure nobody on deck picked up her inner turmoil.

Hattori, having been left on deck, watched the raven haired woman curiously, trying to remember where he knew the woman from, he knew he'd seen her before, he just didn't know where from, so to satisfy his curiosity, he spread his wings and flapped down to her shoulder, perching there, looking down at what she was doing with as much curiosity as he could muster up. Robin, slightly startled at the birds' sudden weight on her shoulder, glanced towards him, before letting a small smile cross her lips she gently petted his feathery head with her finger then went back to reading.

Below deck, Kaku stared at the large doors surrounding the bottom of the hatch, each one with a number painted on it, he had no doubts that the numbers on the doors coincided with the number on the side of the ship; he just wondered what they were there for. He stepped closer to one of them curiously, and as he did, it slid open automatically to reveal a dock like area, a large shark looking machine residing in a controlled amount of water, similar to the dock under the bridge in Water 7, Toms workers hideout, where he'd released the Straw-hats old ship into the Aqua Laguna 2 years prior.

Kaku walked around the wooden platform, taking a look at the dark blue shark marine, then the hatch on it opened, causing the long-nosed man to jump back in surprise, a bald yet cyan blue head poking out of the hatch, Kaku breathed a sigh of relief, just Franky, so it was meant to be there.

"See you finally made it on board eh, Mountain Monkey" Franky chuckled as he climbed out, his sensors picking up the additional person in the room, making the assumption as it was the only person it could be. Immediately, Kaku scowled at the old nickname

"I have a name and you know it, Franky" he grouched, crossing his arms over his lean chest, raising his eyebrow at the large cyborg, whom simply laughed in response, climbing out of the large blue shark machine with a rag, cleaning his hands to get rid of the oil on them.

"Eh guess you do, welcome aboard The Thousand Sunny kid" he grinned, his shades resting on the top of his head, he didn't need them below deck, it only made working in the dark much harder.

Kaku paused for a moment before realizing 'kid' was as close as he was going to get "thank you, apparently you said I could help you maintain the ship… did you mean that?" Kaku tried to tone down the hopeful tone in his voice, trying not to sound like an over eager teenager, the ship really was something else, and Kaku failed horribly in hiding the fact that he was dying to learn more about it from its maker.

"Yeah-yeah sure, I'd have invited the pussy-cat to as well but I wouldn't trust 'im as far as I could throw him" Franky responded, jumping over to the wooden platform beside the dock.

"… Yet you trust me?" Kaku asked, surprise evident in his tone of voice, he hadn't done anything more or less than Lucci had done, yet Franky let him help…

"Yeah, could'a been actin mind you but you always seemed more into workin at the dock than ol' pigeon boy did, from what I rarely saw of it anyway, an from what Iceburg said about you at first… you knew your stuff from day one, whereas Lucci didn't know jack… 'Cept for the obvious rules of shipbuilding, which he probably just studied up on before that mission…" Kaku watched as the large cyborg cleaned up his equally large red hands, he wondered what had actually happened to make the some-what normal looking Franky from 2 years prior, into the giant obvious cyborg he was today, not that he'd ask mind you.

Kaku nodded his head in agreement, he had always known his stuff when it came to Shipbuilding "I'd always wanted to be a shipwright, so when the mission came up, I trained my hardest and finally got onto the mission line-up… it was pretty much my dream job, ask any of the others if you want proof, I'm positive they'll remember" he smiled wistfully, he missed working at Dock 1, it had been such fun… he'd never tell anyone, especially not Lucci or his teammates… but he'd felt as though the largest city on the grand line had been his home, his true home, the place he'd actually belonged, he too thought of Paulie and the other foremen as his Nakama, it had hurt so much when Zoro had delivered the message from Paulie that he was fired.

He was certain that the blond shipwright would probably never forgive them; he wouldn't blame him if he didn't, Paulie had every right to hate them for what they'd done, however he couldn't help but worry, wouldn't the Straw-hats be going back there at some point…? They had planned to travel the right around world hadn't they? Surely they'd re-visit the places they'd been to, Water 7 especially, even if only to visit the place of their previous ship's destruction, the crew had seemed a lot nicer than most pirate crews, so he couldn't help but think that it was something they'd do… to honour a lost member, a lost Nakama, their first ship.

"Seem kinda lost in memories there kid, how about I show you the workshops, I'll have to make an area up for you to work in of course, probably transform one of the un-used stockrooms, or build an extension into the workshops room" Franky cut into Kaku's thoughts as he spoke, the large Cyborg moving around him and towards the door, which Kaku thought only best to follow him.

"If that's okay with you" Kaku responded, still lost in his thoughts, only barely hearing Franky's voice. Franky chuckled and walked through the seemingly psychic 'hanger' door.

"'Ere kid" Franky turned to face the shorter long nosed man, a frown on his face which Kaku couldn't help but pay attention to "you'll probably be briefed at some point about the crew's tendency's to do stupid shit on a regular basis, so if you're not briefed before it 'appens by someone like either Nico Robin or the lil sis Nami... just go with it, don't as questions… cause usually it's Luffy's decision, an it works out better than ever in the end" Kaku simply stared at the large cyborg… they did stupid shit in this crew? He knew he shouldn't but he had to…

"What kind of stuff happens in this crew? Besides the obvious running from marines and causing trouble I mean…" Kaku questioned, an expression of pure curiosity plastered on his young face.

"Weeeelll, 'ah don't think ah'm one to really explain that to ya, kid, try askin one of em that's been 'ere since the start of the crew, don't ask Ussop though, he spouts lies like It's his job… try the lil sis Nami, she's a bit hot-headed but she'll tell ya straight an true" Franky began trekking down a long corridor, a wooden door with a small circular window just above the middle of the door, once there he pushed the door open and ducked to get through it, muttering about how he should re-model the doors so he could get through them easily, Kaku simply walked through.

Behind the door resided a large work area, one side filled with iron, a furnace, hammers and various other Shipwright materials, the other side rested a small platform filled with small chiselling-type tools, hammers, pliers and various other tools "…what is this?"

"This side" Franky pointed to the area which screamed 'shipwright' with his large red thumb "is my workshop; it's where I make weapons for the Sunny" he then pointed over to the other area "that there is Ussop's workshop, where he makes weapons for himself an the crew, he made Nami's Clima-tact" Franky chuckled, watching the younger man glance at the make-shift workshop with awe, it was apparent that Kalifa had told the kid about Nami's weapon and what it could do.

Kaku paused for a moment before looking up at Franky, it was rare he had to look up to someone, being as tall as he was, Blueno was the only one left in their group that was taller than him, so it felt weird having to look up again.

"… Where will Nami be?" he asked after the pause, Franky just let out a brief laugh before pointing upwards

"Navigator-sis would be up in the library, if you go to the top level of the deck, you'll find it there, got a big circular orange and red roof can't miss it, there are Mikan trees outside it, don't touch them, she'll have your head" Kaku nodded at the warning, he didn't think much of it however, he didn't see how someone who barely beat Kalifa, could harm him. He nodded and turned to head up the ladder, which he hoped would take him to the deck somehow; he stopped, turning to face Franky with a frown

"Would she mind me talking to her?"

"Nawh kid, go on up, that'll take you to the men's quarters… just head on out of that room, an that'll take you to the deck, then go up the stairs an climb up to the top using the barrels that I kept to the side, the library's right in front of ya" Franky explained before sitting down in his workshop and picking a few pieces of metal up, probably to create whatever new invention he wanted.

"… Okay" Kaku replied before climbing up, following the directions given he found all their bags had been moved onto separate beds, as if whoever took them inside knew who's bags were who's, he smiled and shook his head before walking out of the room and heading up the stairs as instructed. Looking up he immediately noticed the striped orange and red roof of the library Franky had talked about, he faintly heard a barking sound coming from somewhere around the ship, more than likely it was Jyabura, unless the Strawhat's had a dog nobody knew about.

Kaku whispered 'geppou' before jumping up to the next level, landing on the cream coloured observation deck, plants lining the railings, Mikan trees resting beside the mast to the sloop sail, it was such a wondrous ship, he couldn't wait to explore it more thoroughly, and he'd start, by learning more about his new Nakama.


	7. Chapter 7

Kaku stood at the door to the library for a few moments before finally working up the courage to knock on, then enter, he didn't know WHY he'd knocked, perhaps it was the idea that he was just a guest on the ship, not an actual crew member still plaguing his mind, he couldn't believe that the crew who had destroyed them 2 years prior… had just so happily accepted them into their lives… and trust.

Just as Franky had predicted, the orange haired navigator sat at on one of the chairs in the middle of the circular room, reclined back and writing in a small book, more than likely one of the few log books; back facing him.

"You know Kaku-san, you don't have to knock" there was a teasing smile in the voice of the fiery red-head, he could take a guess and say the smile was curled at her lips, however her long wavy hair shielded his view, and she wasn't facing him.

"And you don't have to call me Kaku-san" he responded, closing the door behind him, not letting her teasing tone get to him

"Touché" she replied a split second after, she turned the swivel-chair around, placing the small brown book on her lap, the pen neatly resting between the pages so her place wouldn't be lost. "Can I help you?" she asked, he was right, the smile was definitely there.

"Franky told me that this crew do odd things all the time… I was wondering if I could find out about the kind of odd things you've gone through in the past" he explained, raising an eyebrow in a curious manner, she responded with a shrug of her shoulders, and then she motioned to one of the chairs in an offer, an offer which Kaku accepted, sitting down, one long leg crossed over the other and his arms crossed over his chest, she raised an eyebrow.

"Why so serious? Relax a bit" she let out a light laugh, leaning back in her chair, he frowned slightly, looked down at how he was sat and corrected his posture to one more fitting for his old undercover shipwright persona, she smiled "much better. So what exactly do you want to know?" she asked, the smile ebbing away into a curious stare

"What kind of things has this crew been through, Franky, said that the crew has a tendency to do crazy things… so I was wondering what exactly I'm to expect" he asked, altering his hat ever so slightly so it didn't get in the way of his large round eyes.

"Hmmm… well I wasn't the first in the crew, that was Zoro, but I know what Luffy's first venture was" Kaku leaned forward slightly, showing his interest, she simply smiled "he first appeared in a barrel on the Pirate Alvida's ship, apparently his dinghy had been sucked into a whirlpool or something and he decided a nap in a barrel was in order" she let out a slight laugh, Kaku couldn't help but gain a small smile, the captain was indeed how he first appeared in water 7, child-like and fun loving. "The next time I saw him was in a small town in the East Blue… he had Zoro with him then, my guess is he must have picked him up sometime in between, how he managed to get Zoro to join him I don't know, since Zoro was originally known as a Pirate Hunter" she smiled before standing up, placing the book on the table and walking over to the book shelf "after that I have all of our adventures recorded"

Kaku watched her; she'd changed a LOT since he first saw her in Water 7, her bright orange hair once short, now reached down to her mid-back, her body more curvaceous, if that was even possible, the young woman had always been rather well curved, not that he made a habit of noticing these things.

They'd all made some very large changes, the crew had grown up considerably in the amount of time they'd been at sea; be it body changes, hair changes, even style changes were accounted for, but then his own team had changed slightly also.

Lucci, well Lucci was still Lucci, not much could change about him, besides the obvious lack of top-hat and overly-well-dressed attire, he still remained the same.

Kalifa had decided to have her hair cut not too long before they were found by the Straw-hats; it now resided just below her shoulders in a stylish chopped look which fit stylishly with her glasses.

Jyabura's hair had grown longer however he'd still maintained his moustache to the same length as it had been 2 years prior, his style hadn't much changed either, still maintaining his oriental look

Blueno hadn't changed at all; it was as if 2 years hadn't even gone by for the large man!

And he himself, the fastest of the rogue agents, he still never took his cap off, his hair having grown so it reached just below his jaw-line in choppy layers, he maintained a more casual style of clothing still having the high collared shirts, however, no matter if he'd grown older in the short time… his long hair made him look much younger than he was, and much more innocent when coupled with his large eyes.

Nami picked out a small collection of books, there were around 4 of them, all varying in size, she walked back over to the desk and laid them out along the flat surface.

"Where do you want to start?" she asked, sitting down again

"At the beginning" he answered immediately after, she smiled and plucked the oldest looking one up, crossing a long leg over the other and opening it, he leaned back in his chair and listened as she started to read, writing in the newer looking log book completely forgotten.

Meanwhile down in the kitchen, Sanji had put off putting out the meals for the crew, finding it more interesting to find out what talent the large Doa-Doa no mi user had in the ways of cooking that was until Luffy ran in yelling for his lunch… he was swiftly kicked back out and the meals were served shortly after.

"Neeehh Sanji~" Luffy whined from the floor, where he'd been indented into the wood by a good strong kick from his chef, which undoubtedly Franky would fix later on. The event earned strange looks from the newcomers in the crew, he WAS the captain, wasn't the captain supposed to eat first?

Lucci, having returned from his tour of the ship, in complete leopard form he sat on the railing outside the kitchen door, his tail swishing side to side languidly, he took a glance with his sharp feline eyes towards Robin, asking an unvoiced question; she gave him a smile before responding quietly

"Sanji is of strict belief that women should always eat first" she supplied before gracefully entering past the spotted feline however Nami was nowhere to be seen, nor was Kalifa.

"I will retrieve Kalifa" Blueno spoke evenly before opening a door in thin air and disappearing through it without a trace, 'such a useful devil fruit power' Lucci thought before slinking off of the railing, re-forming into his human form with practiced ease, but instead of walking inside, he retained the rules the chef had given and simply leant against the railing, waiting for the two other females on the crew to enter the dining room/kitchen.

"Has anyone seen Nami-swan?" Sanji asked, looking around as though he'd just lost his favourite lighter, usually Nami would be there… she hadn't gone off his cooking had she? He suddenly looked rather sullen and decided sulking in a corner was in order, without even giving anyone a chance to supply him with an answer.

"Eh Kaku went up to chat to her earlier, probably in the library curly-bro" Franky called from the door, instantly the blonde cook brightened and he dashed out the room.

Zoro walked up to beside Lucci and sighed "I'd suggest getting food quickly, friendly warning… Luffy takes no prisoners when it comes to food, if you don't get some, you won't get some…" he warned before walking into the kitchen and swiftly grabbing a few things before walking right back out, as though he'd never been there… Sanji would never know… and Luffy wouldn't get his food either.

Lucci stared after the green haired man before silently walking into the kitchen and sitting down on one of the few chairs, not moving to take anything though; he simply looked at the food, thinking about whether or not to chance it.

A few moments after Jyabura ran in, full wolf form, he jumped up on his hind legs, grabbed a few items of food from the table before dashing out again… without even stopping to notice the stares he earned from the strange action.

"He and the skeleton are probably too busy to dine with us" Lucci supplied from the side, offhandedly

"Hm…dining… I've never heard our lunch times put that way before" Robin smiled as she looked down at the spaghetti on her plate, the long strands of pasta curled and woven into each other, a rich tomato sauce, finely chopped onions, peppers and a blend of various herbs and spices to make the sauce rich and creamy, bursting with flavours, to which Blueno had helped of course, just not as much as Sanji had _made_.

Elsewhere on the Sunny, Sanji had walked up to the library and opened the door to find Kaku sat right next to Nami reading the log books with her, she was reading out loud but leaning into him ever so slightly so he could see the book for himself, and he didn't seem to mind it either… the close proximity of the two made the chefs blood boil… he just had to ruin it.

"Nami-swaaaaannn~!" he called rushing into the room causing both occupants to nearly jump out of their skins, Kaku's somehow completely hidden blade unsheathed and pointing directly at Sanji, whom would have ran RIGHT onto it if he didn't have a quick reaction time, the second Kaku realized who it was he pulled the blade back, shock evident on his face

"…Please don't do that again, I could have skewered you…" Kaku sighed, putting the blade away

"Eh shitty swordsman, couldn't skewer a kebab" Sanji grumbled, immediately taking a disliking to him for two reasons, one he was a swordsman like the shitty marimo, and two… he was too close to Nami, and he'd only been there NOT EVEN A DAY.

"Sanji-kun there's no reason to be rude" Nami sighed, putting the book down and standing up "now what is it?" she asked, frustration evident on her face, she had been rather enjoying talking to Kaku, he was smart, he was funny… damn was he cute, and he was yet to make a pass at her! He was fine by her standards.

Completely ignoring her first comment he bowed gentlemanly "lunch is served Nami-swan~" he grinned, a heart in his only visible eye and a large goofy grin on his face. Kaku stood up and sheathed the blade back into wherever he'd pulled it from and walked to the door

"Shall we head to the kitchen, Nami-_swan_" Kaku smirked, obviously taking the piss out of Sanji's behaviour, to which earned a smile and a nod from the orange haired navigator, whom walked past Sanji and followed Kaku out.

Sanji grumbled and walked after them, a frown on his face, Kaku had easily woven his way into the crew, they all had… even Blueno had earned his favour in the kitchen… they hadn't even been there a DAY… no wonder they had been so good at their government jobs, they were far too good at integrating themselves into any crew or organization.

Blueno returned to the kitchen shortly after he'd left just as Kaku and Nami walked into the room, he appeared out of the portal he'd opened, Kalifa following him from god only knew where, noticeably more than half of the food on the table had already disappeared, they watched her for a moment before she decided to answer the unanswered question with "I was exploring… the bathroom is very nice" she smiled

"OW thanks for the compliment soap-sis!" Franky cheered, taking it as a personal compliment that the woman liked his design/creation.

"That's sexual harassment" she replied evenly, adjusting her glasses with a small smile, Franky simply face-palmed and sat down again, remembering that distinct trait of Iceberg's ex-secretary. "Where is Jyabura?" she asked after a moment, looking around the room, noticing the distinct lack of wolf zoan.

"Same place Luffy and Brook are I'd guess" Sanji replied, lighting a cigarette, if he was greatly surprised that Luffy WASN'T still at the table, he didn't show it, he was too busy watching Kaku, sat next to Nami… to close.

Lucci leant closer to Robin and smirked "your chef is radiating anger towards our swordsman; perhaps you can…remedy this" he suggested, his voice low, a trick he'd learnt which always got women to do as he pleased. Robin calmly ate a baguette which was evenly coated with the spaghetti sauce before cleaning her mouth

"And how would I do that?" she asked almost silently, "your swordsman is too close to Nami-san… he will be angry until Kaku moves… or until Kaku proves himself worthy of sitting near her" Lucci raised an eyebrow before leaning back in his chair, crossing his arms across his powerful chest

"Kaku" Lucci spoke evenly, the long nosed swordsman looking up immediately and over to Lucci "come here" Kaku stood up and did as instructed, as though he was hardwired to do as Lucci instructed

"Is something wrong?" Lucci motioned him to lean closer until he was close enough to lean up and whisper

"Steer clear of the navigator until you earn the trust of the chef, you're angering him" Lucci warned almost silently before letting Kaku go and getting up "excuse me" he then vacated the room, having not eaten a thing.

The occupants of the room stared after the dark haired carnivorous zoan for a few moments, before Robin looked around the room, realizing nobody was going to go after him and find out what was wrong with him, she stood up and followed him out, ignoring the choked 'don't' from Kaku's direction.

"Rob Lucci" Robin spoke, her voice raised ever so slightly, a frown creasing at her brow, he stopped in his tracks and turned on his heel to face her without a word. "I know you're more than likely unused to being asked so I doubt this won't come as a surprise to you, but what is wrong?" she asked, the frown present. In response he raised one arched eyebrow then leant against the white railing.

"Not that it's any of your business" he spoke with an air of arrogance that she believed didn't suit him, nor was consistent with how he'd been acting since they arrived, immediately alerting her to the fact that something _must_ have been wrong "I'm simply not used to such a… lively atmosphere"

Robin shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest "you'll find it's always like this, best get used to smiling and having a good time, it's general rules on this ship" she smiled before walking back into the kitchen to finish her meal before Luffy spontaneously reappeared.

Lucci finally made up his mind to return to his seat and actually attempt to eat something, however as he went to walk in, a hand shot past him and grabbed a large bowl of spaghetti from the table and out of the door to the grassy deck below, where an odd trio consisting of 1 rubber captain, 1 living skeleton and 1 giant wolf… all in that order, chasing each other for the bowl of spaghetti around the deck.

One thing came to mind for Lucci _'what the HELL, have I gotten myself into?'_


End file.
